In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2)

In the Lair of the Draca (Book 2) Chapter 17: When she was Right

The lovely, flaxen-haired maiden with sparkle and snap in her smoky, dove-grey eyes fell into step beside the boy, Dijaq. The soft draperies of her pale pink pinafore rustled quietly around slender legs-- permitting a naughty glimpse of ankle-- while her bare feet shisshed in the grass, crunching delicate blue blossoms beneath her soles. Warumachek had the fairest complexion in all of Looks Thrice (free of boils, blotches, or those unattractive spots that were called freckles) and by far the most winsome head of thick, wavy curls. They swished against the small of her back, while the cool morning gale toyed with a few strands beside a pair of coquettish rosy cheeks. Waru may have been Amiechek's daughter, but one would never know it by her stunning looks, and Waru knew it. Even Dijaq, far away though he wished she might be, had to admit that her classic beauty was breath-taking.

"You've been lying to me, Dijaq! You did not tell me you followed that foreign girl out to Haven's Creek. Have you been trying to shame me? Make me lose face in front of all the other girls at our morning lessons? Everyone knows that we plan to marry in our thirteenth year! Do you want people to snicker behind hands and ask me questions about what you were doing with her?"

Dijaq sighed and continued to walk. "There is water that must be collected from the well," he answered tiredly, gesturing half-heartedly to the pail in his left hand. "Father needs enough to be bathed and have something to drink, and there is other work for me to do. I've no time to sit and play your foolish games."

"Games?!" Waru sniffed in disbelief and rushed ahead of him, spinning round to face Dijaq and stop him in his tracks. "Now you accuse me of playing games?" she asked incredulously. "What happened to the two of us, Dee? You and I have been in love since we were babies! Your mother and mine had tea together every evening until we were four-- and when you were five, you told me you would marry me. You said you had room in your heart for me, only for me! And now you've gone and thrown it all away for that-- that alien Red-Hair!"

"I'm tired of people thinking they can tell me what to do!" Dijaq cried, approaching the well and hooking his pail to the end of the rope. "If it is not my brother Toraq, then it is you, hounding me at every step like an angry hen. Leave me alone!"

"What? But-- but why?" Waru reached out to grab his sleeve; when he pulled away, tears welled in her eyes, but her twisted expression did not change. Dijaq considered her countenance. When she looked that way, with her fine features screwed in the fierce throes of anger, she could not be called pretty in the least.

"You haven't been my 'friend' for many years. When was the last time we talked, just you and I? When was the last time we gathered blooms for my mother's memorial garden together? When do you come to join me for supper? For that matter, when have I come to call at your mother's?" Dijaq fixed the rope firmly to the handle of his pail and began to crank the lever, lowering his pail into the musty dankness of the bottom of the well, where cool, bubbling spring water awaited. Sometimes, there would be a small frog trapped in the bottom of the bucket when it was hoisted back up. Frogs, although scarce of flesh, nonetheless made a tasty, oily broth that was one of the only mixtures his father would allow himself to be fed.

"What are you implying?" Waru's voice rose an octave and she fumbled nervously with the embroidered lace of her garment. Waru worked diligently to keep her tone private, but that did not stop the curious glances from other young women who passed them by with baskets of laundry balanced on their heads.

"I'm saying that you and I have grown apart, Waru," Dijaq replied dully. "It's time I just came out and said it. You have time for your girl-friends, your tea-parties, your gossip fests and and sewing parties. You want little to do with me unless it is to be seen at night in the central plaza in public. Why do you want to marry me at all?"